◆ Seibu Lions Pacific League: Seibu vs. Orix Buffaloes (August 1st, Belluna Dome)

Seibu Lions 's first-round draft pick, catcher Taiga Kojima (Meiji University), spoke about his feelings the day after hitting his first home run, the first among all 12 rookies to hit Home Run in the game against Orix Buffaloes on the 31st (at Belluna Dome).

He started starting line-up as the sixth batter and catcher. In the fourth inning, with no outs and a runner on first base, trailing by one run, he swung hard at a high inside fastball from opposing starter Takashima, sending the ball in a beautiful parabola into the right-field stands.

Yesterday, he said he "went straight to bed" and went to sleep as soon as he got back to the dorm. Despite the joyous occasion, he switched gears completely, saying, "I'm not the type to dwell on things, so I just slept through it and that was it. When I woke up, I came to ground thinking about today's game," and he was named to starting line-up as "number 6, catcher" again today.